Home :: Books :: Science Fiction & Fantasy  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy

Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
Fantasy Baseball Strategy: Advanced Methods for Winning Your League

Fantasy Baseball Strategy: Advanced Methods for Winning Your League

List Price: $24.95
Your Price: $21.21
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not particularly advanced or new
Review: If the author truly has a PhD in astrophysics, as suggested by one reviewer, he must have a Bush speechwriter as a ghostwriter since most of the book is at about an 8th grade level.

This book will help you only if you are a fantasy baseball novice, and you play in the same type of shallow mixed type league as the author. Or if you are an 8th grader.

Otherwise the strategies presented within have all been done before, and often written about more clearly and in greater detail by earlier authors.

If you are desperate to spend 20 bucks on this book, send it to me, and I'll send you the book and 10 bucks change. Otherwise you would be better served to read older books by John Benson, Alex Patton, Art McGee, Ron Shandler, and Pete Golenbock. Many of the editions are old or out of print but can be picked up for a few bucks either on Amazon or Alibris.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: How much is this book worth to you? This is what I figure.
Review: In my league, each of the 12 fantasy team owners puts in $100 into the pot at the beginning of the year. So there is $1,200 at the end of the season to be distributed among the top third of the league - the top four teams. I read an article on CNNMoney that says the average fantasy baseball owner spends $120 a year on books, magazines, services, administration fees, etc. Let's be conservative and say that figure is closer to $30 (though I actually spend about $120). That means, the average owner spends $130 and has a one in 12 chance of winning the league and one in three chance of ending "in the money". The author gives a very clear example of how most owners do the same thing every year. They go off of dollar projections they find in magazines or on the Internet and hope to find some bargains in the draft. Everything after that is completely unplanned. If all the teams do the same thing, then each one spends $130 to win $100 on average. In other words, you can expect to lose $30 every year. The author argues convincingly that an owner who thinks differently and has a comprehensive strategy for the entire season, will significantly improve his chances of winning. You will not outright win your league every year, but let's say on average, you end up in the top four in each of the five years after reading the book. I think you will find that this is almost guaranteed after reading the book. That means your expectancy goes from -$30 to $170 each year. I realize people play fantasy baseball for much more than winning money, but I argue that your satisfaction with your fantasy league season is proportional to your standing in your league. The money just helps keep track. Over five years, you can either expect to lose $150 without the book, or gain $850 with the book. The difference is $1,000. For a $20 book, you get a 5,000% return on your investment! Where else can you get that kind of return? Getting this book really is a no-brainer.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A very satisfied customer!
Review: Just wanted to let you know I got the book yesterday. I've read it through once already and I liked it. As I read it, I realized most of the expert's books, annuals, and web sites focus 75%+ of their content on player analysis. This book made me realize that it is not 75% of the equation. I now understand why I failed to perform up to my normal roto standards the past two years - I got so involved in player analysis and projections that I forgot to focus on management. I also believe most people fall into this trap, considering the content of expert magazines, books, etc., which is why the information in this book will, I believe, give me an advantage in my leagues this year.

I may notice more when I read it again (and I will, numerous times.) Another thing I have really enjoyed today is reading the popular message boards and seeing how the majority of the fantasy world thinks in comparison. The typical schools of thought on many subjects differs greatly from what this book presents, which means the readers of Fantasy Baseball Strategy get that competitive advantage the author writes about.

All in all, very pleased. Can't wait to put it all to work.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: There is no comparison. The best book available
Review: Someone on a fantasy baseball discussion board said a good strategy book is John Benson's. I just got back from the bookstore and read Benson's section on 'Inside the game' from his Rotisserie Baseball 2004. There isn't much there. Even though the book is 440 pages long, 45 are devoted to the different rules, 45 I guess you could call strategy, and 350 pages are devoted to individual players. It is published in November so I didn't even look at the player analysis. Don't get me wrong, I'm thinking of ordering his Future Stars book, but for strategy, there is only one clear cut choice. I opened up Henry Lee's new book Fantasy Baseball Strategy and it is phenomenal. He gives clear examples of how strategies can create advantages for you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Everything I know about business I got from Fantasy Baseball
Review: That's what this book should be called. This is a solid fantasy baseball book, but it should be in the business book section instead. The author boils down some pretty solid business principles in a language I can understand...fantasy baseball. If you want to teach someone about business who you know is into baseball, give him this book. It sounds funny, but I am giving it to some of the people I supervise at work.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Reading
Review: This book is not the same old stuff that has been written 10 years ago and re-worded to make a new book. Henry's ideas are very innovative and are all backed up by sound logic. Whether you subscribe to all his theories or not, you can at least know where he is coming from and thus help you better understand where your opponents may be coming from.

Highly reccomended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The New Bible of Fantasy Baseball!
Review: This is the best book on fantasy baseball strategy there is...period! I have read all the books, annually pick up all the magazines, and surf all the Internet sites. This book really ties it all together. Without solid strategies for what you will do throughout the entire season, you really are just drafting blind. Mr. Lee makes creating strategies clear and easy to do. By the time you are done with the book, you pretty much know how your league will turn out. Honesty, I thought I knew everything there was to know about fantasy baseball. Lee confirms much of what I held true, but also proves with hard evidence that many of us have been misinformed by the 'experts' for years.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Pretty disappointing
Review: Though the book does make you take a hard look and ask some serious questions about what your strategy and goals are (which is a positive), there are quite a few vital matters that are brushed over. For example, he talks about his "Fundamental Theorem of Fantasy Sports" and the notion that you want to operate your team in a way that will not vary depending on whether people know what you're doing and to adapt your strategy based on what the strategy of others will be. Fair enough, but he skimps over ideas and suggestions as to exactly how you go about gathering this intelligence, which is really vital to making it work. Trying to do it at the auction or draft is improbable since you're trying to do it for 9 or 11 other teams at once, and that just seems infeasible.

Furthermore, I take issue with some of his theoretical underpinnings. For example, he uses as a starting point the notion that the average (let's call it mean, for clarity) fantasy batting average is worth zero points. But in most leagues, the mean batting average is not worth zero, but 5 or 6 points. Given that his whole valuation system begins from this premise, following his system will give you overvalued players with high batting average and undervalued for everything else. I also question the almost complete reliance on the previous year's performance, which will cause one to miss out on promising young players who don't have much of a track record in the majors, and he doesn't address major league equivalencies of minor league performance at all that I saw.

It is a brisk read (about 3 hours to whip through it) and not terribly written, but to put a lot of his advice into practice (for instance, taking advantage of people with fluke performances) you would need to have a team structure with an enormous reserve. Since that's not the case in my league, I'm finding little of practical use here.


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates